The House That Built Me
by beyondtheneonlights
Summary: Quinn centric one-shot. totally AU, and also girls are out of High School and Quinn kept Beth.


**A/N: posted on rachel_quinn livejournal under the same name.**

Quinn Fabray wasn't someone who broke down much; you rarely ever let your emotions show. Today was different. Rachel held your hand lovingly while Beth held onto Rachel's. On one of the rare occasions that Rachel didn't have a show for a few days, you'd hop on a plane and fly from New York to Lima, to visit family and friends. Correction, to visit Rachel's family, and your shared friends. Over the years, the Berry men have become family to you and Beth, but every now and then, you still miss your own.

Stepping off the plane and into the arms of Aaron and Daniel Berry never felt more comforting, Rachel's hand still clung onto your own as you both embraced both men. You heard Beth giggle as Aaron picked her up and spun her around and couldn't help the smile on your face. You all pile into the car and ride silently to the home that always felt like home.

_"You're making the biggest mistake of your life Quinn Grace Fabray!" his words, venomous and raged filled flooded your eyes as you tried hard not to show any emotion what so ever. "How can you do this to your family? To the Fabray name? You are a disgrace, a whore and we want nothing to do with you. Thirty minutes and your gone!" The sixteen year old flinched at every word, every insult thrown at you while your mother was too afraid to stand up for you, to afraid to fight back to her husband's accusations so she stayed quiet and tried to drum out the noise with another dry martini._

_Twenty-nine minutes and thirty-four seconds you were finished packing, taking one last look at your family. Glaring at the shell of what your mother once was, you spit out "Mom, you knew all along, why my dresses were getting too tight, why I ate more, hell, you held my hair back when I was throwing up two weeks ago. You knew and you can't stand up for your grandchild, against this hateful, hateful person and me. I'm young, but she won't be a mistake. I'm going to show her the kind of love you both assholes have never given me." You fly out the door and walk down the street, leading to anywhere other than home._

_Puck's out, he wants a relationship, or god knows what else from you. Finn won't look at you since he found out he's not the father. Brittany and Santana are too busy screwing each other to even give a shit about you. You don't talk to Tina or Artie. You can't stomach Kurt and Mercedes diva attitudes anymore, so they're out too._

_You find yourself showing up to the one person's house you never expected, you honestly don't even know how you ended up here. The last time you were here was in the fourth grade for a science project. You have nowhere else to go, so you knock on the door and hope someone lets you in, at least for a night._

Beth's tiny hands tugging at your shirt shake your body out of whatever dream like state you were in, and you smile down at her before grasping onto her outstretched hand. What you thought was going to be for a night or two, turned into a month, then two, and before you know it you were there for seven months and a member of their family. You and Rachel formed a friendship at first, finding out all the things that make each other tick or cry or scream. Somewhere along the way, you fall in love and when she held your hand you felt like you weren't a sixteen year old walking teenage cliché, but just Quinn, finding strength in the girl she thought she hated, finding love in a family that she was always told was wrong.

"Momma, come on, Grandpa and Pop made us lunch" Beth's in your face, the five year old excited to be with her family, the excitement in her eyes makes your heart melt. You allowed yourself to get pulled by a five year old, and the twenty one year old girlfriend next to you. Rachel and Beth wear every single emotion on their sleeves, they are so similar sometimes that if weren't for the fact that you _had_ Beth and she wasn't a lookalike of you, you could of sworn she was Rachel's. You smile as your dragged into the kitchen, not bothering to take your coat off as you sit at the table. Laughter and food is filled through the air, and you think that this is how it always will be, and how it always _should_ have been. The dinners at the Fabray household were silent; the only audible sounds were the ones of silverware hitting china. No one was asked how their day was, no one bothered to care.

When lunch is finished and suitcases are put away, you tell Rachel you'll be back and tell Beth to be good for a little while. Rachel nods and says she loves you, fully knowing where your going, because you go there when you've had too much on your mind, and she knows you will sit down and talk when you get back.

You pull your jacket tighter; the wind chills your bones as you walk through the streets of Lima, seeking your destination after only a short fifteen minutes. It looks exactly how it always was, except you see a bike in the front yard. You're father would scold you if you left anything out. You knock on the front door, not knowing who owns the house now, since you haven't been here in a while.

_I know they say you can't go home again_  
><em>I just had to come back one last time<em>

A woman, around 35 answers and looks as you puzzled. She asks if you need any help and you tell her you used to live here and was wondering if you could look around.

_Ma'am I know you don't know me from Adam  
>But these handprints on the front steps are mine<em>

She lets you in, you point to the small set of handprints on the step you did when you were five, 'Quinnie' written in your mothers writing and smile to yourself. Your parents moved shortly after Beth was born, they paid your hospital bills because they thought they could change your mind, they hadn't called to apologize or bad mouth you, just packed your stuff into a storage place and left the key in Rachel's mailbox. They knew you were living with her, or at least seeing her because they saw you both together once, laughing as you stopped into the grocery store to get supplies for your date night. You stopped dead in your tracks but Rachel grabbed your hand and glared at them as she pulled you past.

_Up those stairs in that little back bedroom  
>Is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar<br>I bet you didn't know under that live oak  
>My favorite dog is buried in the yard<em>

The house looks like it's actually lived in, unlike it did when you called it home. The walls were painted bright and free, the trapped in white and fancy wallpaper nonexistent. You reached the open back windows and stare at the old oak tree, remembering when you cried for two weeks straight because Rocket, the family's golden retriever died.

You make small talk with Hannah, the woman who now owns your childhood home with her own family as you walk through the now unfamiliar rooms. You pass your bedroom, which is now painted a pale blue and smile to yourself. You say you have a child of your own and that she is one of the greatest things to ever happen to you. _I told you she wasn't a mistake daddy_ stops short of passing your mouth.

_I thought if I could touch this place or feel it  
>This brokenness inside me might start healing<br>Out here it's like I'm someone else  
>I thought that maybe I could find myself<br>If I could just come in I swear I'll leave  
>Won't take nothing but a memory<br>From the house that built me_

Two hours have passed by the time you find yourself back by the front door, thanking Hannah for her time and patience and showing you, your, well, her home. She gives you a smile and a warm hug, something you hardly got from this home and you say you'll see her soon as you head back out into the cool October wind.

As you enter the house where your family is, you let out a breath you didn't even know you were holding and touch Rachel's shoulder, motioning to come upstairs.  
>You close her bedroom door and she engulfs you in a hug. She doesn't ask what's wrong, just pulls you closer and kisses you softly. One of the very many things you love about Rachel Berry is that she is there when you need her most, with her arms outstretched and open wide. Loving you all the way through.<p>

For the first time in a while, maybe truly ever, you find yourself at peace. Peace in the arms of someone who loved you throughout your rights, your wrongs, the good and the bad days. You've got everything you need in the brunette next to you, the blonde girl and two men downstairs laughing as they watch a movie. _This woman, these people, _they are your family.

You pull out the ring you've had in your pocket for months and prop yourself on one knee. Rachel, the ever over dramatic starts to cry and say yes before you can even ask the question, so you don't bother, you just slide the ring on her finger and love her more than you ever have.

Originally, this wasn't how I had it planned out..but I hope you guys like it anyway. This is my first Faberry fic. Thank you for reading.


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